Secrets of the Enigmatic Smiler
by Phoenixangelgal
Summary: Before Battle City is set in motion, Seto Kaiba stumbles upon a mysterious woman who seems to smile all the time. Friendly and polite, this woman seems to be just a normal duelist. But the CEO wonders what secrets lies under this girl's pleasant smile?
1. The Foreigner

The rain poured down the streets of Domino, washing away filth and dirt from the hard concrete. The skies were a depressing mixture of grays, light and dark, that seemed to blot the sky of all sunshine and warmth. To some, the weight of the weather's gloom burdened their shoulders, making their daily lives more liking a daunting chore than a blessing. The day dragged on, with night looking like it came far earlier then it was suppose to.

Luckily for Seto Kaiba, he found sanctuary from the rain in his favorite bookstore, as his eyes slowly ran along the text of some book he randomly plucked from the shelf. Calming melodies and the sound of a trickling waterfall played throughout the store in an attempt to calm the customers and allow their minds submerge into their stories. Kaiba ignored the music, and paid only half of his attention span on the book he read. The other half Seto spent looking back to how he got in this situation . . .

* * *

Seto packed his briefcase for another trip to the office. Battle City was only two weeks away and he had to make sure everything was in perfect order so he could find the owner of the Egyptian God Cards, monsters so powerful that their creator tried to hide them from existence, and claim the cards for himself. Kaiba was also on the move to eradicate the Ghouls, a group of card sharks that would steal rare cards and sell them, and their counterfeits, on the Black Market. In order for both things to happen, the satellite system required properly configuration, the computer themselves must be checked to make sure no hackers and Trojans, and he had to screen the duelist's decks and skill levels to see who are worthy opponents.

He closed the briefcase and went into his closet, plucking his violet trench coat out and wrapping it around his body. The CEO then exited out of his bedroom and walked down the stairs, aiming his way to the front door. _'If I leave now, I can make it to the office by nine sharp,' _He mused determinedly as he neared the front door. He was about to touch the knob of the door . . .

"Seto . . ."

. . . When an irritated, high-pitched voice froze him dead in his tracks. _'Shit,'_ His brain hissed, forced to turn to the source of the call. There, standing just outside the kitchen in light blue pajamas and with a cream cheese covered bagel at hand, was Seto Kaiba's much younger sibling, his violet eyes glaring warningly at his older brother. ". . . Mokuba . . ."

Kaiba knew he was in trouble.

"You're going to the office again?" Mokuba interrogated the business head of Kaiba Corp., "After coming home at three-o'clock in the morning, you plan on going right back without so much as having a bagel for breakfast?" Kaiba's shoulders bunched back, as if someone has punched him in the gut. It was true, Seto worked overtime for the fourth night in a row and tried to sneak into his home at the early hours of dawn so that the CEO would not wake his little sibling . . . although that obviously backfired. "Did you - did you stay up all night just to see if I got home?" Mokuba approached his brother, nodding dangerously, "Yeah, I did. I wanted to see it for myself."

Kaiba sighed and put his briefcase on the ground, raising both hands up in the air as if he was a criminal. He muttered, "Fine, you caught me. What do you want me to do?"

Mokuba swiped the briefcase, much to Seto's dismay, and continued eyeing his brother. "Well, you can start by having some breakfast with me." His eyes then dimmed with loneliness, since he had to spend four days without his brother and eating all alone. Kaiba frowned, kicking and cursing himself for making his brother sad. "Alright," He smiled at him reassuringly, "I'll stay for breakfast."

Mokuba grinned. "Great! Then you can have a day off too!" Kaiba's eyes boggled at the idea as he chased after his younger sibling. "H—Hold on, Mokuba! I said I'd only eat breakfast and that's i — !" He received threatening eyes from his small brother, and stopped. ". . . _Alright_."

There was just no fighting Mokuba Kaiba.

* * *

He just reached the part about the hero going into the mind of the prisoner.

"Ow!" someone exclaimed.

"Wha?" Kaiba blinked in surprise and looked underneath the coffee table. A woman had crawled up from under the table, pulling her legs under the very low piece of furniture. She was grumble and grunting as she tried to fit in such a cramp space. She turned around and her bright blue eyes looked onto Seto's own deep blue. "Ah!" She squawked, before quickly looking around and then placing a finger to her lips. "Puh — please," She muttered, "Don — Don't let bad men see me! I'm not here!" Kaiba raised his eyebrow at the odd request. "What do you mean — ?"

The sound of heavy stomping caused his head to shoot upward, alarmed, and the CEO spot a bunch of boys his age. The group did not look at all interested in book shopping, nor did they look very pleased. They looked like vicious hunters, searching for their prey. One of them approached him; a tall fellow with jet-black hair gelled into spikes and irritated black eyes. He called to Seto curtly, "Did you see this chick just run in? She has white hair and a tan?" Kaiba's eyes gazed fleetingly downward, where he knew a girl of the same description was hiding underneath his seat. She was probably trembling in terror, praying to her god to keep him from spilling her cover. He paused and then looked up, his infamous icy glare on the teenager. In his mind, Kaiba recognized the leader of the group as Hayato Daisuke, champion of the Duel Monsters tournament in Northern Japan. He was a level seven duelist.

"No," Seto replied coldly, "And if you're not going to keep quiet then leave before I complain to management." Some of the boys shifted back by Kaiba's grouchy retort, but one leered at Seto, like if he wanted to match his rage to Kaiba's. Hayato motioned to the rash kid to calm down, however, at looked like he finally recognized the infamous reader. "Y — Yeah," The leader muttered, holding back his rage, "We'll be going then. Sorry for disturbing ya."

"Get out of here," Kaiba snapped, slowly rising as if to chase them out of the bookstore. Taking cue, the teenagers briskly walked out, not wanting to stir the inferno more than necessary. Some of them muttered curses to the owner of Kaiba Corp on their way out.

Seto made sure the teens were gone before his attention turned to the girl, who was indeed shuddering in terror as he predicted. "You can come out now," He told the mysterious woman.

The girl nodded and started to crawl out from underneath the table, groaning uncomfortably as she attempted to twist her body out. Then she tried to pull her purse out, toppling over and replying out a small yelp. Embarrassed, she hastily jumped off from the floor from her own two feet and brushed the dirt of her beige over coat and purple maxi skirt. "Th — thank you!" Kaiba shrugged and went back to his book. "Whatever."

She tossed a glance left and right before looking back at Kaiba. She noticed the book in his hands. "A - Ah!" Kaiba looked up again, annoyed. "What now?"

"Y — your book! I hear he good writer - very good writer! R - read once . . . it very good book. Want to read more books someday . . ." Her speech was awkward and rough to Seto's ears, almost too hard for him to understand. It was easy to tell from her bad Japanese and her heavy accent that she was definitely a foreigner. He figured she came to Domino City, Japan to join the Battle City tournament, and was most likely an average contender who won enough tournaments in her home country to register as a five-star ranking duelist.

Suddenly, he realized something after pondering over this girl so much . . . "Why are you still here?" He snapped crassly at the woman, noticing that she had yet to leave his presence. The girl blinked at him, taken aback at his sudden lash at her, and bowed. "I – I sorry! I – I need help. Need book," She muttered frantically. The annoyed Kaiba rubbed his temple and eyed the girl like her very existence sucked out his energy. "What kind of book?" He snarled.

The girl put a finger to her lips and gazed at the ceiling, trying to recollect her thoughts. "Uh . . . um . . . It starts with 'I' . . . _I . . . ke_ . . .? _Ike . . ._ _ba . . ._ _ba_ _ba . . ._" She continued sounding out her idea, syllable by syllable. Kaiba snarled with growing irritation, a headache slowly gnawing at his temples. He was about to yell at the girl when she suddenly jumped, "Ah!" She hit her fist into her hand, "_Ikebana_! That's it!"

"Ikebana?" Kaiba inquired, raising his eyebrow. The woman nodded in reply. "Fine, why do you need my help?"

The girl gave her honest retort, "I not read Japanese _. . ._"

Kaiba paused for a bit, his brain just slapped by common sense.

"Oh."

He closed his book and placed it on the table with a sigh. He stood up, stared directly in her eyes, and curtly requested, "If I help you, will you stop bothering me?" She eyed him strangely and cocked her head to the side. Seto sighed again, "Fine. Come on."

He led her through the aisles of books, scanning each volume after another. The girl followed suit, concentrating deeply on trying to make out the kanji characters printed on the bindings of the books, with little success. Kaiba glanced at her face and took notice of her furrowing brows. '_Definitely a foreigner.'_ He concluded.

Seto finally stopped, looking up. The girl copied him as a little child would copy her older sibling's mannerisms. "They're right here," He said, reaching up the high shelf and reaching for a book. He pulled one book out and proceeded for the next one, only for a tanned hand to beat him to it, taking him by surprise. "Ah - !"

He looked beside him and noticed the woman could easily reach for the book as well, and pulled it off the shelf. He caught abrupt by how tall she was – this woman could easily outsize any girl in his class. In fact, she could probably rival most of the boys in his class in stature. It was just another quirk to add to this already odd foreigner.

"Thank you," She said to him, snapping Kaiba out of his thoughts once more. "I . . . I guess I go now . . ." She said, sadly, as she took the books from his hands, "I – I didn't mean to bother you . . . You seem good person, very easy to be with. Usually I very nice person to talk to . . . Um . . . Bye." She slowly turned away from the CEO and headed towards the cashier. Kaiba silently watched her for a bit, contemplating on whether or not to follow her.

Meanwhile, the cashier rang up the books as he chatted with the woman. The foreigner pulled out the required yen from her purse and handed it to the shopkeeper, bowing gratefully as she received her change. She then aimed her way towards the exit.

"Wait."

She stopped obediently at the sound of the cool, deep voice and turned her eyes to meet the owner's intense blue eyes. "Yes?" She said, calmly.

"You name," Kaiba mused, "What is it?"

The girl blinked at this request, but smiled genially as she replied, "Rafa."

"Rafa, It was… _nice_ to talk to you." Kaiba muttered, approaching her, "I hope we can meet again." He pulled out a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Rafa bowed in reply, continuing her friendly smile when her head rose again, and stored the card in her coat pocket. "Thank you. I also hope we meet again. Good bye." She turned away from his gaze and walked out of the building.

Kaiba simply stood there . . . and smiled.

"Good bye . . . Weird foreigner . . ."

* * *

Seto Kaiba sat down in his usual spot of the bookstore, reading his book some more. Once again, he could only examine the text halfheartedly since only half of mind was actually concentrating on the story. The other half spent its time revolving around the humorous musings when it came to Rafa's eccentricity.

His eyes slowly peeled away from the book and gazed out towards the windows, wanting to see the weather outside. The city still looked dark and dreary, but the rain ceased for now, which meant it was Kaiba's only chance to exit the bookstore dry. "I guess I better get going now before it rains again."

He paid for his books and left the bookstore immediately, eyeing the sky above and then his wristwatch below. It was slowly turning to dusk and the streetlights were turning on. The CEO sighed, wondering why his brother never called him. _'He must be up to something . . .'_

He walked along the street corner when he heard some chatter coming from one of the alleyways.

". . .You better give me my money, little girl."

Kaiba merely brushed off this rather hostile scene though. _'It must be a drug dealer . . . Hmph. It's not worth dirtying my hands over scum like them. They'll be dead soon from overdose, anyway.'_

"I tell you," A heavily accented snarled, "I no have your money! Please leave me alone! I no want fighting! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Kaiba's ears seemed to perk at this new, and yet familiar voice. _'Is that . . .?' _ He briskly walked into the alley, being as quiet as possibly so he to avoid evoking an unnecessary encounter. He turned his head around the corner and allowed only his face to be visible, in case he had to pull back. _'Is that really . . .?'_

He saw a group of teenagers forcing a girl into the corner, some of them holding switchblades in their hand and the others had their hands clenched tight into fists. _'It's those punks from before!' _He realized. _'That means . . .'_

He turned his attention to the damsel in distress. The woman was just as tall as they were with tan skin and silvery white hair. Her bright, blue eyes glared back at the men defiantly, like she was just seconds away from shredding them into gory ribbons. _'Rafa!'_

The boy with black, spiky hair snatched the collar of Rafa's coat, pulling her towards his face so he could scowl directly into her eyes. "You lying bitch," He spat angrily, "If you didn't have any money, how the fuck did you buy these?" He raised her shopping bag to her face and slapped her with it. "You spent on money on this shit, didn't you?" Hayato furiously threw the contents to the ground and roared in her face. "ADMIT IT!"

Rafa grunted at the tight hold on her neck. "I — It my own money! I tell you… I no have your money! Let go!" She finally swatted his hand away from her throat, and then punched him right in the cheek, knocking Hayato into the ground.

Kaiba eyes widened in surprise by the girl's new ferocity, something that contrasted against her rather sweet temper the last time he saw her. Tall and feral, he wondered whether she was once a gang leader with her impressive strength. Still, even with her strength, he knew she was in big trouble now.

"You bitch!" One of the other gang members punched the girl across her face, causing her to lean on the wall as her only source of balance and leave herself open to a gang assault. The boys crowded closer to Rafa and proceeded to mar her with a flay of kicks and punches. Soon enough, she was on the ground, curling into a ball and trying to protect herself, while the attacks remained relentless. Kaiba bit his lip and his fists pulsed, his anger he could no longer repress.

He stepped into the fight.

"Hey punk." He tapped the shoulder of one of the boy, causing him to stop pounding on the foreigner. The teenage gangster turned, ready to snap at the intruder, only to instead meet Kaiba's fist. The kid fell over with his eyes rolling into the back of his head, obviously out cold by Kaiba's punch. Their fallen ally caught the gang's attention as they turned their blood-lusting sights on Seto Kaiba.

"Who the fuck — ?" Hayato snarled as he finally got up from Rafa's attack, only to freeze in shock. "Se — Se — _Seto Kaiba?_" Even Rafa perked her head at the name.

"I see you punks are still stalking girls, huh?" Kaiba asked, cracking his knuckles, "I don't know how she's involved with worthless pieces of trash like you, but I rather not have you swine disgracing _my_ city just before _my_ tournament starts up . . ."

The gang boss merely spat some blood on the ground and glared at him. "I tried to be nice since I was gonna be in this tournament . . . but you've stuck your head in our business for the last time!" He drew a knife and charged at Kaiba, only for Kaiba to easily swat the knife out of his hand then punch his lights out.

Rafa quickly ran to Kaiba's side, her fists at the ready. "S – S – Sorry for trouble . . . These boys a bunch of… how you say… _panku_?"

Kaiba grinned devilishly. "Heh. That's _exactly _the word to describe them… besides trash, swine, filth . . ." He mused aloud, evil wheels turning in his head.

Rafa turned her head to him and asked, "And . . . what's that word . . .? _Jackasses?_"

Kaiba chuckled with impish delight. "That too…"

One of the teenagers wearing a black band t-shirt grew irritated at the couple's insults. "Why you –!" He lashed at the two, fists prepared.

Kaiba ducked under the punch and countered with his own, striking the guy's stomach. Rafa used Kaiba's back as a vaulting table: springing her body on his backside, turning herself around, and then kicking the punk in the head while he was keeling over in agony. The boy slammed into the ground. Rafa slipped off Kaiba and stood in front of him. Kaiba looked up and they both met each other's eyes.

"Not bad at all, I'm impressed," He said, smirking in amusement.

Rafa smiled back in reply as she brushed down her skirt, "Thank you."

The couple continued beating up the rest of the gang members. Now that she had Kaiba's assistance, she could fight back the teenagers with much ease. She grabbed one teenager's fist, mid-punch, and easily flipped him over. While the boy was still recovering from slamming concrete, Rafa punched him in the gut and rendered him out of commission. Rafa did not pay any heed to the teen after that, however, since she had to duck from another gangster's blow. Kaiba retaliated by punching the guy in the face.

But while Kaiba and Rafa continued their fist fight against the gangsters, the Hayato woke up and dug into his pockets. From his pocket, a small handgun glinted under the dim alley lights and aimed at Rafa's chest.

"D – di – die, bitch . . ."

He squeezed the trigger just as Rafa turned her head to head to the teenager's voice.

**BANG!**

Kaiba shot his head to the source of the loud sound, spotting Rafa crumbling to her knees. As she grabbed her shoulder, her coat stained a deep scarlet. Blood seeped between her fingers and landed on the concrete.

Hayato aimed again.

**BANG!**

She grabbed her stomach as crimson flood oozed through her digits when she finally collapsed. Kaiba took his eyes off Rafa to find out who was responsible for shooting her down. The teenager was pulling back the hammer again.

"NO!"

He lunged at Hayato and they struggled over ownership of the gun. Seto Kaiba attempted to pry open the gang leader's hands while Hayato was trying to shoot the girl again.

"Let go of me," Hayato exclaimed, "I said let me g - !"

**BANG!**

Smoke scattered across the black sky, it's harsh smell wafting the nostrils. Kaiba blue eyes widened in horror as the din of the pistol faded. Blood was drooling from Hayato 's lips and his words were muffled with gurgles and gasps. Finally, his hands limply peeled away from his pistol and the boy fell on the ground. A gunshot wound was bleeding from Hayato 's neck.

The terrified Kaiba tossed the pistol and backed off in fear.

"Se . . . to . . ."

Kaiba felt a sudden weight pulling down his trench coat and the CEO shot his head down at the person. Rafa, with a hand soiled in her own life fluid, as desperately clinging onto Seto with the remaining energy she had.

"Puh – please, Seto," She begged, "Help . . . me . . ."

Tears were flowing down her eyes as she continued to plea.

"It . . . hurts . . . pain no stop . . . I no . . . want to die . . . I can't die . . . Please . . . Please . . . Save me . . ."

Kaiba stared at the girl, heeding her every word, when a man in a black suit approached Kaiba.

"Mr. Kaiba, we were looking for y - !"

His jaw dropped at the bloody scene, unable to form a coherent sentence as the gory sight slowly flooded throughout the man's mind. His eyes finally turned to the half-dead woman with her fingers digging into Kaiba's coat to survive.

"What happened here?" The Kaiba Corp employee inquired.

Instead of giving him an answer, Seto Kaiba barked an order to the chauffer to get the car ready while the CEO snatched the dying woman into his arms at a frenzy speed. The girl was groaning in pain while she was being carried off into the jet black limo, blood leaking from her body. The pain was so great that Rafa couldn't even bother to notice she was in a warm interior of a limo, since the blood loss was making her blind.

"Get us out of here, NOW!" The CEO ordered.

The Chauffer pound his foot into the gas pedal, causing the car to speed off. Kaiba did not care about the car, however, as he was trying his best to close the wound. His hands frantically clamped on her wounds and he was doing his best to keep Rafa from passing out.

"Rafa? Rafa, do you hear me? It's Kaiba." He sputtered hastily as he pressed on her wounds, "Listen, you need to stay awake, ok? Don't faint on me, ok?"

Rafa grappled onto Seto's arm and her nails embedded themselves deeply into Seto's flesh, using his warmth to keep her from slipping into oblivion. It was a vain attempt, seeing that her whole world shrouded in a haze of anguish. She could only slowly sink into that world of nothingness, long separated from Earth.

"Se . . . to . . ." She whimpered, her face shining from a salty film of tears.

Kaiba continued pressing down, even when the girl's nails broke through his skin and produced wet, red beads.

"I . . . I can no die . . . not now!" Her words sped up faster into hysterical stutters, "I can't! I can't! Not now! I have to find him! I must find him! Please! I no want to die!"

As the car traveled on, the only thing running through Kaiba's mind were the shrill screams that pierced his eardrums and the liquid on his hands that stained everything blood red. It was as if he plunged into a world of absolute chaos, where all chances of things ending badly actually _could_. All he could do, though, was continue his grueling task of keeping her alive, unsure on whether or not it would be in vain.

_"Save me!"_

* * *

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Phoenix: Thanks for reading the first chapter. I know to some of my fans who read have read the previous version of this story will notice there are many changes. These final change will include more action and intrigue. Until then, review, favorite, and watch.


	2. Interrogation

It took three whole days for the ringing to stop in his ears, three days without sleep because the screaming would scare him awake. Usually Kaiba did not mind a day or two without shut-eye, except he had someone's life on the line and she made sure he never forgot it with her ear-piercing screams. Sure, she fainted a few hours after she arrived in the Kaiba Household, but the memories remained.

"Finally," The CEO muttered, "Now I can get some sleep."

He lay back on his mattress and pulled over the covers, intending to get some sleep finally. As much as he would like to get back to Kaiba Corporation and finish the last touches to his tournament, Kaiba realized he could not do much while he was this tired. His head sank into the soft pillow and his eyes closed. He could feel his consciousness trickling away into soothing darkness . . .

"SETO!" He heard a little boy cry, "Seto! Get in here!"

Kaiba didn't even hesitate to yawn; he jumped out of bed and immediately sprinted his way to the cry for help. He threw open the door and his gaze immediately met the eyes of his younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba, who kept vigil over the sleeping Rafa.

"Mokuba, what's going on?" Seto inquired, walking into the bedroom briskly.

"Seto," Mokuba yelped, "It's her!"

Mokuba turned to his sleeping companion, tossing and turning in her sleep. Strange words were spewing from her mouth, phrases not remotely _close_ to Japanese – or English, for that matter. Kaiba hovered over the girl as well.

"I was just gonna see how she was doing and all of a sudden she started screaming and tossing in her sleep!" Mokuba cried to his brother.

Kaiba looked down and carefully grasped the girl by her shoulders. He shook her violently.

"Rafa! Rafa! Can you hear me?"

He saw Rafa struggling against his attempts, trying to remain in her nightmare for some unknown reason, which did leave him to hesitate. He eyed her curiously, taken aback.

_'She wants to go back in her nightmare?_' Kaiba mused, wondering all the possible reasons Rafa would stay in a dream that was obviously causing her to panic.

It was then Rafa's loud shriek interrupted Kaiba's thoughts and whipped him back into reality. Recalling that this girl was the very reason he could not get any sleep himself, the droopy-eyed CEO shook the girl with greater fervor than before. In response, Rafa's body thrashed out in an attempt to shrug off her assailant . . . to no avail.

"Damn it, Rafa!" Kaiba yelled, "Wake up! Wake up already! I said wake UGH-!"

"Seto!" Mokuba cried.

Seto Kaiba did not expect a woman to punch him in the face. In fact, Seto Kaiba did not expect _anyone_ to punch him in the face . . . _ever_.

However, someone _did_ punch Seto Kaiba in the face . . . and it was enough to send him on the floor with a loud thud and a throbbing cheek. On the back end, Kaiba ached at the hard collision . . . the front end however . . .

"AH - !" Rafa cried out, "Ka—Kaiba?"

Rafa's soft chest pressed up against Kaiba, while the bed sheets ensnared all the rest of her body. She looked at him in confusion while her legs kicked wildly for freedom.

"Wh - what happening?" She cried while continued struggling out of her makeshift cocoon.

Kaiba carefully sat up and reached out, carefully assisting Rafa in freeing her legs. He didn't want her to go into a panicking fit again and reopen her wounds.

"Hold still," he commanded as he pulled Rafa's left leg out. "There."

Rafa sat beside Seto and bowed, blubbering apologies as she kept her face pressed to the ground. Kaiba placed his hand on the top of Rafa's head, his fingers snared by the white locks of hair as he forced Rafa to sit up.

"It's fine," he uttered as he slowly pulled his hand away from her.

Mokuba leaned over the couple; his violet eyes dark with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Ah!" Rafa nodded obediently. "Yes . . . but . . ."

She looked down at herself, and then back up, "Am I . . . Am I alive?"

The CEO nodded.

"You were shot twice – but nowhere too vital, so my medical team was able to repair you in the nick of time. You've been asleep for three days since that incident."

Rafa stared at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"_Th - three_?" She stuttered, rising to her feet, "I – I must go!"

She forced her body to the door, ready to sprint, but instead Kaiba saw her legs wobble and the girl fell to the floor. Luckily, he had quick reflexes as he shot out and caught her, allowing his body to be her crutch.

"Are you crazy?" Mokuba cried out, as he ran up to the couple. "You can't even stand!"

Rafa struggled out of Kaiba's grip, babbling a mix of her weird language and bits of broken Japanese phrases.

"Need . . . to go . . . No time . . ."

With one mighty pull, Seto Kaiba was able to take her back in his arms, where he then proceeded to haul her up in the air and carry her back to the mattress. She flailed her legs the entire time.

_'She's a stubborn lil' girl,'_ He thought to himself, _'Damn it! Why can't this woman sit down before I -?'_

He finally slammed her down on the bed, pinning her arms. This only caused Rafa to struggle even more and yelp in pain.

"Damn it, calm down already! CALM DOWN!"

"Seto, you're scaring her!" Mokuba cried, grabbing his elder brother's arm. "Stop it!"

Kaiba stopped immediately at his brother's pleas and slowly loosened his grip on Rafa. Rafa finally calmed down too, most likely due to exhaustion. She was staring into Kaiba with wide, eerie eyes. Her breathing slowed, but not by much – she was still hyperventilating.

"Look," the CEO tried to explain calmly, "you're still too badly injured to get out of bed and run around freely. You still need time to recover."

His stomach churned uncomfortably as he spoke in such a slow voice, but he continued calming her – and eventually himself – down.

"Mokuba, I have some things I need to ask her. Can you tell one of the servants to get us something to drink and a fresh roll of bandages?"

Mokuba nodded before he ran out the door, leaving her all alone with the CEO of Kaiba Corporation and along with all traces of warmth and gentility. All that remained was a cold distrust, all of it coming from Rafa's sudden, bitter glare.

Kaiba took a deep, exasperated sigh, realizing she was no longer as friendly to him as she was _before_ she almost died. She probably would not cooperate as fully as he wanted her to.

"Look, I'm sorry for scaring you just now," he muttered, "but your injuries are still pretty bad - I'm surprised they didn't open up just now with all your struggling. You need to stay here just a little bit longer and have my medical team take care of you. Alright?"

Rafa turned away and bit her lip. Kaiba couldn't tell what she was thinking – whether she was still denying Kaiba's attention or just ruefully pondering over her situation. Either way, Kaiba shrugged it off and sat on the bed. Rafa scooted a few inches away, obvious that her sour attitude had only intensified.

"Now listen, I need to know what happened last night between you and Hayato . . ." He paused before proceeding. " . . . Because Hayato _died_ that night."

Rafa snapped her head back at Seto, her eyes wider than dinner plates. Now her focus was entirely on Seto and his every word.

"The police are probably investigating his death as we speak – and Hayato was going to be a participator of my tournament . . . but now he's dead. He shot himself by accident when I struggled with him for control of the weapon."

Rafa kept her stare at the teenage boy. After a gulp, she finally spoke, in a broken and stuttering voice:

"You . . . saved me?"

Kaiba nodded appropriately, and continued his narration. "Yes. But now I have to wonder, how? How did these events come to pass? How did it end this way?"

He got up and walked towards the window, gazing out at the morning for a brief period before speaking again:

"That I don't know. The only clue I have is . . ."

He turned to glare at Rafa, his piercing eyes staring deep into Rafa's.

" . . . _You._"

Kaiba approached her, keeping his cold gaze over her own. He scanned her, up and down her body, taking notice of all the bandages underneath the white dress shirt of his. Rafa instinctively pulled the covers over her body.

"Rafa, what connection did you have with Hayato and his gang?"

He saw Rafa's eyes dart off to the side, trying to keep as little contact with him as possible, and interjected,

"And don't you _dare_ tell me that there is no connection - he wouldn't have wanted you dead if there was nothing going on between the two of you. Talk . . . or I'll just hand you over to the cops and be done with it."

He saw her eyes tear up and a hand cover her mouth, muffling a loud gasp. Her body trembled while she tried her very best to keep her face away from Kaiba's view. The more he tried to lock eyes with her, the more Rafa would turn away.

Finally, he heard a loud sob escape from her, followed by a series of whimpers.

"Rafa . . . ?" He inquired.

His eyes widened in amazement as the girl slowly, surely, unraveled at the seams.

"He . . . He was bad man . . ." She whimpered, "Promised . . . promised me a way to tournament . . ."

Kaiba listened intently, keeping his glare cold despite her cry.

"He was able to get me to Japan . . . but told me I was now in his debt. He . . . he said now I must work for him . . . He instructed me to go to other men . . . be their service . . . but . . . but . . ."

"Seto, we're back!"

Kaiba's eyes widened as he turned his head. He saw Mokuba and one of the maids at the door. Mokuba carried a first-aid kit of steaming towels and bandages, while the housekeeper held a tray of coffee.

"We got some coffee and the banda-!"

Rafa then wailed aloud.

Mokuba dropped the towels and darted off to Rafa's side. The maid carefully laid the tray down and comforted her as well.

"Seto, what happened? Why's she crying?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba stood there, his mouth agape. He wanted to speak, desperately, but he his brain could not register a single word.

That's when Rafa continued . . .

"I became prostitute . . . I was supposed to get money from other men . . . to pay debt . . . I was to sleep with them . . . listen to them . . . do everything they said . . . even things too awful . . ."

Then the CEO saw the maid's hand reach out for a tissue and quietly give it to the weeping woman. Rafa wiped her eyes and blew deeply into the little napkin. She then took another tissue and dabbed her eyes, which were an ugly, puffy red in contrast to her bright blue irises.

"So I . . . I ran away . . . Wanted to explore Domino and be free . . . but they saw me and wanted money . . . I thought I would die!"

Mokuba patted her back while the servant poured a cup of coffee.

"Would you like cream and sugar?" The maid asked softly.

Rafa nodded her head slowly. Kaiba could only stare at her sadly, now regretting more than ever that he made her confess this way.

_'I've made women cry before – many times actually . . . but I have never made a single one of them cry in front of Mokuba, especially not over something like prostitution . . .'_

"Ugh . . ." He muttered, averting his eyes away from the two of them.

Then the only thing he could see was a steaming cup of coffee.

"Cream and sugar, Master Kaiba?" The servant inquired.

The CEO nodded, and quietly took the cup of coffee after its preparations.

The maid then approached Rafa with the clean bandages, while Kaiba and Mokuba turned away for the sake of privacy. He heard the sound of ruffling fabric, and he presumed that Rafa had already taken of the garment.

"Rafa," Kaiba said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that these things happened to you."

He heard her sniffles and finally a loud nasal blow.

"Look, you can relax now. I won't give you up to the police."

"Huh?"

He didn't turn to respond, afraid he'd catch Rafa while still unwrapped. Sure, he would admit to himself that she was attractive in nothing but a man's shirt and boyshorts, except . . .

_'Sadism aside,'_ he mused, _'there's nothing arousing about two bloody, open wounds . . . especially ones that caused me three days worth of nightmares.'_

"As long as you are with me, Rafa, there is nothing you need to worry about. You will be under the protection of Kaiba Corp."

He heard a light _swoosh_ from behind him.

"Re—really?" She asked.

"Really."

"There we go, Miss Rafa," the maid said, after two snips of a blade.

Both of the Kaiba brothers turned around, with Rafa already buttoning up the top. She still sniffled a few, quiet times before deep breaths replaced them. The tears had finally stopped flowing and she wiped away the remaining salty film covering her cheeks with a towel the house cleaner provided. She turned her head and looked up to Kaiba, her eyes as charming as they were the first time they met. Her lips curled into a small, serene smile.

"Th—Thank you."

It was at that second Seto Kaiba felt a sudden jolt rush through his spine. It caused his arm to spasm and his face to flare up instantly.

"I – It's nothing," he stammered.

He had a sudden yearning for his leg to somehow contort out of its socket and kick him in rear. Meanwhile, his eyes darted away.

_'Damn it, Kaiba!'_ he could hear his mind scowl,_ 'How the hell can you not make a coherent sentence out of __**two words?**__'_

"J – Just go back to sleep, alright?" he told the girl, "Rest now so you can get better soon."

"But I no tired . . ." Rafa retorted.

Kaiba sighed, his headache slowly returning, and turned towards the girl.

"You need time to heal," He insisted.

Rafa puffed her cheeks indignantly and her eyes contested with his own on who could out-glare the other. He could have sworn that the deeper he gazed, the more her eyes seemed ablaze with blue flames.

"Hey Seto," a different voice chimed in, instantly lassoing Kaiba's attention directly to Mokuba, "I got an idea!"

"What is it, Mokuba?"

Mokuba took in a calm breath and suggested, "Why don't we show her around the place after her nap? I mean, I'm sure she'll get better if she moved and had some breathe some fresh air, right big brother?"

Mokuba eyed his brother with those gleaming, violet eyes and large smile. The smile made the elder Kaiba shiver internally and his eye twitch. He quietly threw his eyes off Mokuba, only to meet Rafa's gaze, and shuddered. Her eyes were practically _sparkling_ – like a duo of freshly cut blue topazes framed with diamonds. His entire face felt white-hot and his stomach churned uncontrollably. His brain slowly began drawing blanks on even the most simple of concepts, like math and short-term memories. His head was practically spinning when he said the word:

"Okay."

His stomach suddenly felt like lead.

"Now get some sleep already," he muttered.

"Thank you," she said, finally lying on the bed.

Kaiba briskly turned his back to her and made his way to the door, not wanting to stomach another moment of being within her presence; else, he would probably faint from nausea. Mokuba followed closely behind his brother and then shot past him as the young man closed the door. Mokuba then pivoted in place and stared his brother down.

"What is it Mokuba?"

Kaiba walked away from the door, eyeing his young brother suspiciously. Mokuba was wearing a rather odd-looking smile, one lacking of innocence, while his eyes seemed to stare down into Kaiba's very thought process.

"I saw it, Seto, you were blushing!" Mokuba said mischievously.

Kaiba continued looking at his brother, though now he was raising his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You like her, Seto," Mokuba continued. "I saw the way you were looking at her. You face was so red that it wasn't even funny!"

Kaiba shook his head and glared at his brother indignantly.

"Look, I dunno what in the world you saw . . . but there is _nothing _going on between me and that woman. We're just acquaintances, nothing more."

Mokuba took a step towards Seto Kaiba, causing the older boy to slowly step back into the wall. A sudden feeling of dread seemed to tickle the back of Kaiba's mind while his young sibling continued staring him down. His stomach churned once more.

All of the sudden, Mokuba turned away from his brother and walked off, keeping his hands at the back of his head.

"I'll let you off, for now, big brother," he said.

He instantly spun around and eyed his brother again, flashing another impish smile.

"But you're gonna let your guard down, sooner or later. I know, I am your brother after all . . ."

With that, he departed, whistling an innocent tune as he went down the hallway.

Kaiba leaned back against the wall and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"God damn that woman," He mumbled, "She turned my brother into a match maker . . ."

He toiled his way to his own bedroom and fell face-first into the downy mattress. Despite the softness his comforter brought, Kaiba could only sigh at his predicament.

"This is going to get _worse_, isn't it?"

He closed his eyes, his mind drifting off to sleep. However, he would have the last word before he completely blacked out.

"How annoying."


End file.
